Level and inclination determining device



June 25, 1957 J. c. VIZE 2,796,676

LEVEL AND INCLINATION DETERMINING DEVICE Filed Sept. 29. 1954 INVENTOR. JOSEPH C. VIZE 4 ATTORNEY United States Patent LEVEL AND INCLINATIDN DETERMINING DEVICE Joseph C. Vize, Dubnque, Iowa, assignor of one-half to Spero Michael Folios, East Moline, Ell.

Application September 29, 1954, Serial No. 459,182

1 Claim. (Cl. 33-219) Preceding generations have tried to have all their construction work shaped as correctly as their large and clumsy levels and plumb-lines could indicate, but the present generation needs, and can now have, more scientific and eificient devices. For example, the plans may call for a ramp at an inclination of eleven degrees (11), but the contractor may question, mentally, whether the ramp is being built as ordered, but his inclination determining device correctly and instantly answers his query. In the construction of all kinds of buildings, as well as in factories and machine shops, this little device finds many such uses, as will readily be appreciated by those skilled in these arts. My invention resides in the combination, construction, and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and, while I have shown therein what is now regarded as the preferred embodiment of this invention, I desire the same to be understood as illustrative only and not to be interpreted in a limiting sense.

In the drawings annexed hereto and forming a part hereof,

Fig. 1 shows this device in front elevation, and

Fig. 2 shows an end elevational view thereof.

A bar 4 has two screw-threaded openings 5 in which are mounted a pair of screws 6. These screws may be screwed into the openings 5 to a greater or less distance in order to tilt the bar 4 with relation to the base 2.

A semicircular, graduated scale 1 constitutes an extension of the bar 4, and the upper and lower ears or projections 3, extending respectively from the top and bottom of the bar 4, are, in reality, integral parts of side plates 9. The bar 4 comprises the side plates 9, with spacers 11 secured between them. These spacers 11 are spaced from each other longitudinally of the device, leaving an opening between them for the reception of the pointer 8, and a pendulum counterbalance weight 12 is mounted on trunnion 7 which is between the plates 9. In the plates 9 are formed adjustable bearings 7a for journaling the trunnion 7.

The lower ears 3 receive a pivot pin 3a for adjustably mounting the bar 4 on the base 2 at the upper midportion of the base centrally between opposite ends of said base. As is clear from the drawings, the screws 6 pass only part way through the openings 5 and serve to lock the bar 4 in fixed relation to the base 22. The base 2 is formed with oppositely inclined upper surfaces 2:: which are engaged by the screws 6 to support the bar 4 in any 2,796,676 Patented June 25, 1957 selected adjusted position efiected by turning the screws. These surfaces slope away from a mid-portion of the base after the fashion of a peaked roof.

It is of course understood that the specific description of structure set forth above may be deviated from without departing from the spirit of this invention as disclosed in this specification and as defined by the appended claim.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

A device of the class described, comprising: an elongated base having a horizontal bottom and opposite ends and including an upper mid-portion provided with a pivot transverse to the length of said base, said base having a pair of upper surfaces inclined downwardly and oppositely at equal angles from the pivot respectively toward the opposite ends of the base; an elongated bar generally coextensive in length with and disposed above the base, said bar including a pair of transversely spaced apart elongated parallel plates and a pair of lengthwise spaced part spacers respectively at opposite ends of and secured to the plates to form said bar and to establish a pendulumreceiving pocket in said bar, said plates respectively having centrally located depending apertured ears transversely alined and receiving the base pivot to mount the bar tiltably on the base with the spacers respectively above the base upper surfaces, and each spacer having a vertical screw-threaded bore therein opening downwardly to its respective surface; a pair of screws threaded upwardly respectively into the bores and respectively having heads respectively engageable with said upper surfaces, each head having a diameter on the order of the transverse dimensions of the base so as to be readily accessible to the fingers of the user; said plates respectively having centrally located upstanding ears transversely alined on an axis above and parallel to the aforesaid pivot; one of said plates having an upright semicircular scale rigid thereon and homocentric about said axis and having a zero index directly above said axis; and an upright pointer trunnioned between the upstanding ears on said axis to traverse the scale, said pointer including a pendulum counterweight below said axis and accommodated by the pocket formed by the transverse spacing of the bars and the lengthwise spacing of the spacers, and said pocket and pendulum counterweight being so constructed that when the pointer is at said zero index the pendulum counterweight is confined within the vertical dimension of said pocket, said counterweight having portions visible above the upper edges of the plates when the pointer swings away from said zero index.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 114,014 Johnson Apr. 25, 1871 500,452 Worrell June 27, 1893 859,886 Maroney -1 July 9, 1907 886,333 Southward Apr. 28, 1908 1,085,165 Rutledge Jan. 27, 1914 1,155,824 Knitle Oct. 5, 1915 1,805,004 Newsorne May 12, 1931 2,704,405 Kupchak Mar. 22, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 201,784 Germany Sept. 17, 1908 

